Well Autumn took an unexpected twist this week. Unfavourable winds brought in a few migrants to Spurn, fortunately they all converged on the same place making for a very pleasurable couple of hours.
News came through on Thursday that a pallas’s warbler was in Sykes Field at Kilnsea and it was accompanied by a yellow-browed warbler and a firecrest. With a trio of birds like that it was difficult to resist so I was on my way by half-ten.
The particular area they were all frequenting is a u-shaped line of willows with the southern end open. Conditions weren’t great for photography, however I think that cloudy, misty conditions actually add to the image and capture the atmosphere and ‘feel’ of the day.
The pallas’s warbler had been trapped and ringed the previous day and it weighed less than 5 grammes.It find it utterly incredible that this tiny lightweight had travelled from somewhere in Siberia, crossed the north sea in unfavourable winds and hereit was in a feeding frenzy, trying to build up its weight to continue its journey to who knows where!
The yellow-browed warbler will have made a similar journey and if I were guessing, I’d presume the firecrest had come from continental europe at least.
Conditions werent great for photography but my new nikon kit coped more than adequately. the more I get used to this stunning technology, the better the results appear to be.
Maybe Autumn has a few more surprises yet?
